Case Study | Fashion Notions & Trimmings
MJ Trim: B2B/B2C Fashion Supply Catalog
One catalog. Three completely different search behaviors.
INDUSTRY
Fashion Notions & Trimmings
PLATFORM
Magento
MODEL
B2B + B2C Hybrid
FOCUS
Specialty Catalog, Discovery
The product discovery problem
A manufacturer, a retail customer, and a designer walk into the same catalog
Fashion notions – buttons, ribbons, rhinestones, fasteners – are the invisible backbone of the garment industry. A manufacturer searching for 3/4-inch white nylon buttons needs to find them instantly. A retail customer looking for “decorative metal buckles” needs curated results. A designer sourcing rare vintage trim needs advanced filtering.
Standard eCommerce platforms are built for single-audience retail. Serving wholesale buyers and direct consumers simultaneously requires deliberate architecture – dual pricing, different product presentation, separate buyer experiences – all from the same inventory.
The architecture approach
Wholesale and retail share inventory, not product experience
We built MJ Trim’s platform on Magento with deliberate architecture for hybrid commerce. The key insight: wholesale and retail don’t share product experience. They share inventory.
This meant building distinct customer journeys that pull from unified backend systems. Same product, two completely different presentations.
What we delivered
Two audiences, one unified platform
Wholesale experience
Bulk items with technical specifications, volume pricing tiers, and order minimums. Search prioritizes specification matching – material, size, color, finish, count.
Retail experience
Curated collections organized by style and application. The same button appears as “Vintage Pearl Shank Buttons” in a “DIY Sewing Supplies” collection with single-unit pricing.
Unified inventory
Same inventory powers both experiences. When a product sells in wholesale, that depletion is reflected in retail. Stock levels accurate everywhere.
International shipping automation
FedEx Crossborder handles customs documentation, duty calculation, carrier selection. What required 15 minutes of manual work per order is now automated.
Customer loyalty integration
MageRewards tracks purchases and awards points automatically. Customers earn rewards for repeat purchases without requiring manual administration.
Accessibility built in
WCAG compliance built into core platform decisions. Screen readers work correctly. Color contrast meets standards. Keyboard navigation fully functional.
The bottom line
Hybrid commerce requires deliberate design.
You can’t retrofit wholesale and retail onto a retail platform. Multiple buyer audiences served effectively, unified operations without manual syncing, and growth that doesn’t require managing fragmented systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wholesale and retail share inventory but not product experience. Wholesale buyers see technical specs, bulk pricing, and order minimums. Retail customers see curated collections and single-unit pricing. One inventory pool prevents overselling across channels.
WCAG compliance expands the addressable market to customers who require accessible digital experiences. Building it in from the start is dramatically easier than retrofitting. Screen readers, color contrast, and keyboard navigation all work correctly.
If you serve wholesale and retail and feel the burden of separate systems, let’s discuss how deliberate architecture solves this.
Ready to serve multiple audiences from one platform?
Let us discuss what you’re building.
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